A brief review of large eddy simulation (LES) applications for different bluff-body flows performed by the author and his co-workers is presented. Examples of flows range from simple cube flows characterized by sharp edge separation over a three-dimensional hill where LES relies on good near-wall resolution, to complex flows of a tall, finite cylinder that contains several flow regimes that cause different challenges to LES. The second part of the paper is devoted to flows around ground vehicles at moderate Reynolds numbers. Although the present review proves the applicability of LES for various bluff-body flows, an increase of the Reynolds number towards the operational speeds of ground vehicles requires accurate near-wall modelling for a successful LES.